Bilateral tax treaties
A treaty does not say where you pay: it allocates a right to tax, income category by income category, and sets a method to eliminate the double taxation that remains.
Each sheet links to the official text published by the tax administration. A heading not yet read in that text stays “being verified” rather than being filled in.
France – Portugal
In force since 1972-11-18 · Official text · Full sheet
- Tax residence
- The text follows the OECD model: in the event of dual residence, the tie-breaker criteria apply in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement between the two authorities. This order is not indicative: you only move on to the next criterion if the previous one does not settle the matter.
- Employment income
- Article 16. Salaries are taxable only in the State of residence, “unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State”. The short-stay rule keeps taxation in the State of residence when the assignment remains below the presence threshold and the employer is not a resident of the State where the employment is exercised.
- Pensions
- Two articles, two opposite rules — this is the point most often misread. Private pensions (Article 19) “shall be taxable only in that State”, the State of residence. Public remuneration (Article 20) remains taxable in the State that pays it, unless the recipient holds only the nationality of the other State. A retiree from the public sector and a retiree from the private sector are therefore not in the same situation.
- Dividends
- Article 11. Dividends may be taxed in the State of which the paying company is a resident, but “the tax so charged shall not exceed 15% of the gross amount of the dividends”. This cap is a treaty provision: it does not apply automatically, it must be claimed, and any excess withholding tax deducted must be reclaimed.
- Interest
- Being verified: this heading has not yet been read in the official text.
- Capital gains
- Article 14. Gains from the alienation of immovable property “may be taxed in the State in which such property is situated”. Capital gains on securities follow separate rules, which we have not yet extracted from the official text.
- Real estate income
- Article 6. The right to tax income from immovable property is allocated to the State where the property is located. It is the most stable rule in tax treaties, and the one that surprises people most: an expatriate who keeps a rental property in France remains taxable there, wherever they reside.
- Elimination of double taxation
- Being verified: this heading has not yet been read in the official text.